These Crimson Strings
βπΏππ πππππππ πππππππ ππ, ππππ ππ πππ ππππ ππ.β
You are 3000 years old. More or less. Not like you actually care. You stopped counting ages ago. Your early undead life was preoccupied with other things to the point that you were only happy that the pesky hunters did not find and kill you yet.
Your travels bring you to the closest thing you would ever come to the kind of happiness that can shatter bones. And you would gladly let it be. It was when you met them. The human who would change your world forever. The human who would dare to love you with everything they have. The human who you could not save.
Your soulmate. The love of your life. Taken from you by the cruel hands of fate.
Wandering around the world with too much guilt and ache in your heart, you finally settle down in New York City. Hope that one day, either the monotony of your life or the Butchers will kill you.
But being one of the oldest vampires in the world has its own demerits and youβre recruited by an eccentric but passionate Dullahan, to help protect the city. So much for lying low.
Being a guardian of a place as big as NYC is not easy but you suppose it is not the worst job in the world.
Your unlife is going smoothly until one day, you meet them again and the normalcy you had tried so hard to build, comes crumbling down like a house of cards.
Your heart and soul long for them but you will not fall for a human. Not again.
Or will you?
Connected by the red string of fate, you are destined to fall for them again and again. But will this second chance end in tragedy just like the first one?
βThese Crimson Stringsβ is a fantastical romantic drama with hints of comedy and is rated 17+ for mild sexual themes and violence.
Ronan Bennett (M, early 20s): You met him first during the late 1600s in London, United Kingdom. In that life, he was a medical student named Lawrence Abernathy, who would soon join the front lines to help people in βThe Great Plague of Londonβ. It would be an epidemic which would soon claim the lives of approximately 80,000 people, including him. Holding him close to you as the tips of his fingers turn dark and he breathes his last, the memory has not left your psyche in about half a millennia.
Now you meet him again, reincarnated as a man named Ronan Bennett. He looks the same, he acts the same. Hell, he is even an aspiring medical student. But are all of these valid reasons for you to believe that he is the same Lawrence you fell in love with?
Witty and absolutely charming to a fault, you manage to get swept by his bleeding heart all over again. Ronan cares too much for the people around him, a fatal flaw that costed Laurieβs life. You wonβt lose him again this time. Thatβs a promise.
CΓ©lia Dupont (F, mid 20s): Born as Juliette LaRue to a noble family in 18th century France, she would be married off in an unhappy matrimony with an influential old man who would only see her as a trophy wife. Her husband, mad with jealousy and envy when he hears the rumours of you courting Juliette behind his back, accuses her of witchcraft while the supernatural paranoia was prevalent in north-central France. You watched her burn at the pyre, your companions holding you back to prevent you from exposing the dark supernatural underbelly of the world.
When your paths cross in modern times, your beloved dons the name of CΓ©lia Dupont. The sole heir to her parentsβ business and fortune, she is expected to meet the standards set for a proper future CEO. But behind the cold faΓ§ade she puts up for the cameras and the world, is the same gentle and kind soul you loved centuries ago.
Even the flames of the pyre could not severe the strings tying you both. But will this time your story end with a happy note? Or is it destined to crash and burn again?
Samira / Sameer Bakkoush (F/M, early 20s): A rising starlet in the 1950s Hollywood, Ariana / Arfaan al-Abbas had the industryβs eyes on them in anticipation and excitement the moment they starred as a supporting character in an indie movie. With unstoppable charisma and attractive features to back it up, they had no hard time landing good roles in movies. It is when they meet you for the first time that they find something to chase besides the glamour and stardom of the silver screen. Your whirlwind romance came to an abrupt end when an obsessed fan snuffs the lights from their dazzling green eyes.
Revenge has not made you any happier but you hoped that it had at least brought them peace. Aβs name fades to obscurity like they never even existed to the industry.
That is until you meet them again. Now working as an up-and-coming model named Samira / Sameer Bakkoush, it seems like their fate will always push them towards fame and recognition. Although this time, you will be prepared to take the bullet for them.
Isabelle / Issac Tachibana (F/M, mid 20s): The first time you met Reiko / Renjiro Sugiwara was when they were assigned to hunt down you and your supernatural companions during the Edo period. With the fear and unsolicited cry for the safety of humans, it was no surprise that the hunters came for your heads the second a bounty was put upon the rogue creatures who were murdering people when the sun had set.
With a sword to your throat and fire in their eyes, you knew that Rβs hatred for supernatural creatures, especially vampires, ran deeper than just the bounty. You play a dangerous gamble of death and yet, even they cannot stomp down the infuriating niggles of attraction that they experience when you even meet eyes.
When they sacrifice their life to save yours, the bloodlust that takes over you has half of the town grazed to a grisly scene. Even the rain could not wash away Rβs blood on your hands.
Meeting them in modern times has you reliving your catastrophic love story all over again. They are as human as you remember; body warm even as they press the knife against your collarbone. A burning glare directed towards you which sets your blue veins ablaze, Isabelle / Issac Tachibana hates you but it is only a matter of time before history repeats itself once again.
- Play as an ancient vampire who is tired of living too long when they meet the reincarnated form of their soulmate.
- Fully customize your character including: pronouns, gender, physical appearance, personality, sexuality, and many more.
- Based on the legend of the red string of fate.
- Inspired by media like βGoblinβ, βTale of the Nine-Tailedβ, βThe Invisible Life of Addie LaRueβ, etc.
- The person you choose in the beginning will be your locked LI for the rest of the book so just keep that in mind.
- Romance 1 out of 4 love interests (1 male, 1 female, 2 F/M selectable)
- You can befriend the rest of the cast after a LI is selected.
- Take your chance at love again and hold your own fate in your hands.
- Will you be merciful or ruthless to the rogue creatures who intend to harm the people of your city?
- Unravel your past. How did the story begin? Will the human shatter your reality again like the last time you met?
Status | In development |
Platforms | HTML5 |
Rating | Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars (232 total ratings) |
Authors | axel, SwimmingInFishGuts |
Genre | Interactive Fiction |
Made with | Twine |
Tags | Comedy, Fantasy, LGBT, reincarnation, Romance, Story Rich, supernatural, Twine, Vampire |
Average session | A few minutes |
Languages | English |
Inputs | Keyboard, Mouse, Touchscreen, Smartphone |
Links | Blog, Twitter/X, Discord, Spotify |
Comments
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Any new updates on this game?
Is it just a bug? There's nothing past the prologue and I'm not sure
Im pretty sure after that is still being worked on, so dont worry, it's not a bug! ^^
Are you sure it's still being worked on? This wip hasn't been updated since the demo came out...3 years ago.
Well if it hasn't been updated in like 3 years then prob not? im not sure.
The author just came back on her tumblr and she's claiming that she's back and is gonna continue on this if so there's still hope.....
Love it π, it have lots of potential.
love this idea, hope itβs still in the works.
Has this been updated past a prologue yet? I played it a while ago and I'm sort of anxious
More chapters have been written they just need to be implemented. The author is also working on other projects.
When???
Only three of the routes have been implemented Axel just needs to finish writing the last one.
Can you say if they will all be released at once or one by one?
They will all be released all at once
Im having some kind of trouble, whenever I choice something it'll glitch and the choice's will disappear even though I restart or refresh the game and the web.
( Sorry if my English is bad. English is not my first language π )
WAIT omg could someone please tell me from which song the guitar ambiance is from after we press the start button of the game?
Ontario by novo amor
Thank you!!!
No problemπ
Despite only being the prologue, the sheer DEPTH in the writing has stunned me. The descriptions, particularly at rather,tragic, moments, had my heart twisted up in my chest and threatening to well up in my eyes-a job well done. Had me truly immersed and invested in the story
This is pretty good, can't wait to see for a continuation
damn i hope theres more to the storyline its too good to stop it their ^^
i loved it ^^
Iβve read this a while ago and really liked it! Any progress update? Hopefully an estimated date for when itβll be updated?
Hey! There is work being done on the game but currently Axel is working on other projects. A few of the different potential pathways have been written and just need to be coded in. Thank you for the patience and hopefully by the end of the year it should be updated. :)
Really good hope it wont be forgotten D: It's really good
Axel said that they found a coder to help them! (They are mentioned in their other game - What lovely bones)
Here is their latest progress update as of writing this comment: click here. (It's on their tumblr blog)
This reminds me of the anime " Your name "
I remember having this story added to my saved stories. It's still honestly one of the absolute best I've read and i loved the music. Just read your latest story. Is this one abandoned? Or just not really continuing?
itβll be updated! as of now, iβm trying to focus on the WIP which havenβt even been released but most of the work on chapter one is done :)
i can completely understand that and also not wanting to take on too much. I read your latest story and it was absolutely wonderful btw. What made me wonder about this one. But you do you honestly. I will take what i can get lol you are really talented.
Any updates?
thereβs a high chance of the chapter one update releasing around the end of this month. iβm just planning on focusing on my other WIP atp
I have this game opened in the background of whatever i'm doing because the music in the menu is so brain scratching to me
Do you by any chance know what song this is?π I need it as well but in YouTube π€
I have no clue thats why i listen to it using the gameπ
π© πΆ
This is awesome!
I hope you update this is a awesome book I can't wait for more and I hope Daphne is alive man that soo sad seeing the characters parenting dying next to each other, omg I almost forgot about Sophia I hope she alive too
If I knew how to code, I would definitely help out for free D:
Sexy! Hope to see more soon! :)
Any news on chapter 1 update?
this is awesome bro<3
i love it!!
im looking forward to this! <33
sooooooooooooooooo...is there a chapter 1 yet?
I also wanted to ask but will the story be available to download when the story is completed? The amount of re-reads i see in my future <3
i'm leaning towards a positive answer, i really want to make this IF available for offline playthroughs. thank you for the sweet comments β€οΈ
Absolutely amazing! thank you for taking the time to reply.
omg.....this was amazing the reading fanatic in me has awoken! Im just dying for the updates<3 please continue the good work I'm hooked.
Im foaming in the mouth!!! cant wait for the routes to come
This is great. I love it. When is the next chapter coming out?
i'm aiming for a summer release and since i'm writing for four completely different routes every chapter, which is equivalent to typical IFs having four individual chapters, each release takes a lot longer. so far, 3/4 routes are written for chapter one so we're on time for now.
got it
what is the song that plays in the menu?
it's a mildly remixed version of 'ontario' by novo amor!
Thank you!! its been in my head all week
Can't wait for it to be longer I love the premise and start of the story keep it up!
Oh this story is EVERYTHING , I'm so excited to keep reading
The "end of the prologue" button is not working >_<
At first I thought that was supposed to be end of the content currently available but now that Im going through the tumblr Im not so sure... :(
Edit: Ok, nvm I found an update about Ch1. Its not finished yet and theres no release date.
Link to the tumblr post if you want more info here!
I don't have words to describe how much i love this game already! πβ€π
I've played a lot of interactive fiction games over the past year or two, but very few have rendered me this speechless. I'm excited to see where the story goes. Keep up the amazing work.
LOVE THIS SO MUCHH!!!
β₯β₯β₯
oh absolutely divine! the visual, the way words trails and trace the emotion - can't get enough of this.
really love how nostalgic this makes me, searching back and forth for this passage,
but i still love you as deeply as i always have, still know you as surely i always will. a thousand bodies and my soul has always found its way back to you
thank you so much for creating this art
Thank you for that passage, it's causing my romantic tendencies to fucking explode. If there's anything I want in existence it's that.
this made me feel so many things at once, mainly positive emotions tho omg zijczjdoaj thank you for the extra inspiration, dear bonnie β₯
SO insanely lovely?? I'm endlessly excited to get to read more! You've clearly done your research and the way you construct sentences is really beautiful!! I can't believe you made me care about the MCs fam so much so quickly tbqh.
Looking forward to the eventual release of the next chapter!
ah stawp, you're making me blush. thank you so much, dear bonnie β₯
I'm so damn happy there's finally a few things with a vampire protagonist. Like come the fuck on there's literally no reason for it to be so damn rare. Also your story is like it was made with me in mind. Now I want more :c
thx for this :)
you're telling me, it's about time we've had more badass vampire MCs β₯
absolutely incredible
much love β₯